£*»  S^  O^  £^  <£^  £^.  "52- 

OF   THE 
AT 

PRINCETON,   N.  J. 

BOXATIOX       t»  If 

SAMUEL    AONEW, 

OF     PHILADELPHIA,     PA. 


G46.. 


fiha^cXs^Jlr^r  .-/§^r. 


Case, 
Shelf J 10 

> 

Book, 


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> 

n 


THE 


ASSERTION  OF  THE  DIVINITY 


OF     OUR 


lot*  ano  frsbiaut 

JESUS  CHRIST, 


IN 


A  SE1MON, 

PREACHED    IN   THE 

CMAJPME,    OW    ST.    GJEOMGE9&9 


BY  TMT,  MMY.  P.  BRANDON, 
Perpetual  Curate  thereof. 


1813. 


ATKIN      >N,    PRINTER,    D&AL. 


iERMO; 


ASSERTING 

THE    DIVINITY    OP    OUR    LORD    AND    SAVIOUR 

JESUS   CHRIST. 


Jesus  said  unto  them,  verity,  verity,  I  say 
unto  you,  before  Abraham  was,  I  am.— 
John,  Chap.  viii.  v.  58. 


.ANY  mighty  and  miraculous  works  had 
the  God  Man,  Christ  Jesus,  wrought  in  the  sight 
of  his  countrymen*  according  to  the  flesh, 
in  confirmation  of  his  being  not  only  that  Pro- 
phet which  should  come  into  the  world,  but 
also  that  Emanuel,  God  with  us,  who  came, 
not  only  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  but  also  the  whole  race  of 
Mankind.  But  their  minds  being  intoxicated 
with  the  thoughts  and  desires  of  worldly  pomp 
and  grandeur,  who  looked  for  nothing  less 
than  an  universal  Conqueror,  a  mighty  Tem- 
poral Prince )  who  should  not  only  free  them 


from  the  galling  yoke  of  Italic  Bondage,  but 
should  subjugate  all  the  Nations  and  King- 
doms of  the  Earth  under  their  Power  and 
Dominion.  They  could  not,  or  would  not,  see 
in  the  meek  and  humble  Jesus,  any  form  or 
comeliness,  that  they  should  desire  Him  ;  or 
cause  them  to  list  themselves  under  his  Ban- 
ner, who  seemed  to  them  so  unlikely,  by  the 
meanness  of  his  appearance,  and  the  poverty 
of  his  followers,  to  execute  their  pre-conceived 
favorite  Scheme  of  establishing  their  Name  and 
Power  over  all  People,  and  to  erect  amongst 
them  an  universal  Empire.  Notwithstanding 
their  readiness  upon  all  accounts  to  assert  their 
privileges  as  the  stock  of  Abraham  ;  yet  it 
was  sufficiently  evident,  from  their  obstinacy 
and  refractoriness,  that  they  were  the  seed 
of  the  bond-woman,  and  not  the  children  of 
promise.  For  had  they  been  the  children  of 
Abraham's  Faith,  they  would,  like  him,  have 
rejoiced  to  see  Christ's  Day  ;  and  not  have 
attempted  to  stone  Him  for  asserting  his 
Divinity,  when  he  said  unto  them,  Verily, 
verily,  (3c.  Seeing,  that  most  heinous  of  all  sins, 
and  most  likely  to  draw  down  the  heaviest 
judgments  of   God   upon  any   Nation  guilty 


5 

thereof,  (viz.)  that  of  denying  the  Lord  ivho 
bought  them,  and  which  (with  great  grief  be 
it  spoken)  so  much  prevails  amongst  us  at 
this  time  ;  seeing,  that  on  the  Divinity  of  the 
Second  Person,  in  the  ever  blessed  and  adora- 
ble Trinity  depends  all  the  certainty  of  our 
eternal  Salvation  ;  I  shall  take  occasion  from 
these  words  to  prove,  that  the  blessed  Jesus, 
though  thus  appearing  in  the  humble  form  of  a 
servant,  then  was  (as  well  as  now  is)  over  all, 
God  blessed  for  ever,  and  that  from  these  fol- 
lowing particulars  : 

First, — From  the  predictions  concerning  Him, 
which  was  then  in  the  full  possession  of  the 
Jews. 
Secondly, — From    the  testimony  He  bore  to 

Himself,  Saying,  Verily ',  verily,  &c. 
And   Thirdly, — From   the  miracles  which  he 
wrought,  fully  evincing  Him  to  be  possessed 
of  those  three  essential  properties,  or  attri- 
butes, which  alone  can  be  ascribed  to  God 
himself,  the  eternal  miT  (viz.)  Omnipotence, 
Omniscience,  and   Omnipresence. 
And  first,  from  the  predictions  concerning 
Him,  which  were  then  in  their  full  possession. 
For  we  are  told  that  Moses  of  old  time  had,  in 


6 

every  city,  them  that  preached  Him,  being  read 
in  their  synagogues  every  Sabbath-Day  ;  they 
surely  then  could  not  be  altogether  so  ignorant 
of  what  was  meant  by  that  original  promise  ;  I 
will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman, 
and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed,  it  shall 
bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel. 
Afterwards  more  clearly  made  known  by  God 
to  Abraham  ;  saying,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  And 
which  promise  was  afterwards  confirmed  to 
Isaac.  Moses  had  declared  to  them,  the 
Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee,  a  Pro- 
phet from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy  Brethren, 
like  unto  me,  unto  him  shall  ye  hearken.  And 
declares  the  consequence  of  their  disobedience 
to  that  Prophet,  saying,  the  Lord  God  spake 
unto  me  saying,  they  have  well  spoken,  that 
which  they  have  spoken,  /  will  raise  them  up 
a  Prophet  from  amongst  their  Brethren,  like 
unto  thee,  and  will  put  my  words  in  his  mouth, 
and  he  shall  speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall 
command  Him,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
whosoever  will  not  hearken  unto  my  ivords, 
which  he  shall  speak  in  my  Name,  I  will  re- 
quire it  of  him.     Thus  the  Prophet  Jeremiah 


7 

speaks  of  him  ;  a  woman  shall  compass  a  man. 
That  this  Man,  this  mighty  Prophet,  was  to 
partake  of  the  divine  as  well  as  human  nature, 
they  had  sufficient  information  from  the  writ- 
ings of  the  old  Prophets.  Isaiah  saith,  a  virgin 
shall  conceive  and  bare  a  son,  and  shall  call 
his  name  Emanuel,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
declared  to  be,  by  an  infallable  interpreter, 
God  ivith  us,  i.  e.  God  in  our  Nature.  And 
the  same  Prophet  speaking  of  the  certainty 
of  the  thing,  as  if  already  accomplished, 
saith,  unto  us  a  Child  is  born,  unto  us  a 
Son  is  given,  and  the  Government  shall  be 
upon  His  shoulders,  and  His  Name  shall  be 
called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  mighty  God, 
the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
of  the  increase  of  his  Government  and  Peace 
there  shall  be  no  End  upon  the  Throne  oj  David 
and  upon  his  Kingdom,  to  order  it,  to  establish  it 
with  Judgment  and  with  Justice,  from  hence- 
forth even  for  ever;  the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
shall  perform  this.  Thus  speaks  the  Prophet 
Zachariah ,  A  wake,  O  sword,  against  my  shepherd, 
against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts.  The  Lord  whom  ye  seek,  saith 
Malachi,  shall  suddenly  come  to  His  Temple9 


even  the  Messenger  of  the  Covenant  whom  ye 
delight  in,  behold,  He  shall  come  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts.  The  declaration  of  the  Angel  to  Joseph, 
as  well  as  the  glad  tidings  brought  by  the  Angels 
to  the  Shepherds,  which  they  published  not 
only  at  Bethlehem,  but  in  all  the  Regions  round 
about,  were  so  recent  amongst  them,  that  they 
could  not  well  have  slipt  the  most  treacherous 
onemory.  By  the  one  it  is  said,  fear  not  Joseph, 
to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy  Wife,  for  that 
which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  she  shall  bring  forth  a  Son,  and 
thou  shalt  call  his  Name  Jesus,  for  He  shall 
save  His  people  from  their  Sins*  By  the  other 
it  was  declared,  Behold  I  bring  you  glad  tidings 
of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  People,  for 
unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David, 
a  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord.  How  often 
had  they  heard  these  remarkable  passages  read 
unto  them  out  of  the  Prophets.  I  am  the 
Loid  thy  God,  the  Holy  one  of  Israel,  thy 
Saviour,  before  me  there  was  no  God  formed, 
neither  shall  there  be  after  me  ;  /,  even  /,  am 
the  Lord-,  and  beside  me  there  is  no  Saviour. 
I  have  declared  and  have  saved,  and  1  have 
.shewed  when  there  was  no  strange  God  among 


y 


them,  therefore,  ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  1  am  God.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, one  should  have  imagined  that 
when  they  heard  the  Blessed  Jesus  declare, 
Verity ',  verily ■,  I  say,  &c.  that  instead  of  taking 
up  stones  to  stone  Him,  they  would  one  and  all 
have  cried  out ;  this  is  surely  that  Prophet  who 
should  come  into  the  world  ;  We  have  found 
Him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  Law,  and  the  Pro- 
phets did  write. — Proceed  we  now  to  the  second 
particular,  (viz.)  the  testimony  the  Blessed  Jesus 
bore  to  himself  .This  compassionate  Saviour  who 
came  into  this  World  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost,  and  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Truth,  and  be  made  partakers  of 
the  eternal  life  that  He  came  to  purchase  for 
them  ;  Perceiving  that  the  great  miracles 
which  He  had  wrought  among  them  were  not 
sufficient  or  forcible  enough  to  convince  them 
of  His  Divine  Nature,  that  they  might  have  no 
cloak  for  their  sin,  no  plea  of  ignorance  to 
make,  declares  Himself  to  be  the  way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life,  that  no  man  could  come 
to  the  Father,  but  by  Him.  And  that  He  and 
the  Father  were  one.     That  He  Himself  was 


JO 

very  God,  as  well  as  very  Man.  And  so  ab- 
solutely necessary  was  it  to  their  eternal  salva- 
tion for  them  to  believe  this  ;  that  he  declares 
to  them,  that  if  ye  believe  not  that  I  am,  ye 
shall  die  in  your  Sins.  And  tells  them,  that 
however  unwilling  they  might  now  be,  to  ac- 
knowledge Him  to  be  in  the  Father,  and  the 
Father  m  Him  ;  or  as  their  Prophets  had  de- 
clared of  Him,  that  He  was  God,  and  beside 
Him  there  was  no  Saviour  ;  yet  that  a  time 
would  come,  when  they  should  be  convinced 
of  this  grand,  this  necessary  Truth.  When 
saith  He,  ye  have  lifted  up  Him,  whom  ye  now 
look  upon  as  merely  the  Son  of  Man,  then 
shall  ye  know  that  /  am.  In  the  two  passages 
of  this  divine  colloquy  above  quoted,  our  trans- 
lators have  in  each  place  added  the  pronoun 
He  ;  if  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  He  ;  and  then 
ye  shall  know  that  I  am  He.  Whether  these 
are  mistakes  of  wilfulness  or  ignorance,  I  shall 
not  now  stay  to  enquire  ;  but  they  are  such  as 
tend  to  take  away  the  whole  beauty,  strength, 
and  meaning  of  our  Lord's  Words  ;  for,  it  is 
evident  that  in  both  these  verses,  as  well  as  in 
those  three  remarkable  ones,  John,  xviii,  5,6,  8, 
as  also  in  the  words  of  my  Text,  that  the  Blessed 


11 
— <$>— 

Jesus  was  labouring  to  convince  His  hearers, 
that  He  was  that  God  whom  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
upwards  of  700  years  before,  had  pointed  out  in 
these  very  remarkable  words*  He  will  swallow 
up  Death  in  Victory,  and  the  Lord  God9 
the  Lord  mrp  will  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
off  all  Faces,  and  the  rebuke  of  His  People 
shall  He  take  away  from  off  all  the  earth,  for 
the  Lord  mrp  hath  spoken  it.  And  it  shall 
be  said  in  that  Day,  Lo  !  this  is  our  God, 
(our  Alehim)  we  have  waited  for  Him,  and 
He  will  save  us.  This  is  the  Lord  TTSV  we 
have  waited  for  Him,  we  will  be  glad  and 
rejoice  in  His  Salvation.  And  for  their  more 
full  conviction,  declares  in  the  words  of  my 
Text,  Verily,  verily,  /  say  unto  you,  before 
Abraham  was,  /  am.  The  force  and  meaning 
of  which  words,  will  be  best  understood  by  ad- 
verting to  that  memorable  transaction  recorded 
by  Moses  in  the  third  chapter  of  Exodus, 
where,  upon  the  most  High  God  honouring 
him  with  the  commission  to  bring  out  their 
Forefathers  from  under  Pharoah's  yoke,  Moses 
said  unto  God  ;  Behold,  when  I  come  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall  say  unto  them. 
The  God  of  your  Fathers  hath  sent  me  unto 


11 

— -o — 

yoa,  and  they  shall  say  unto  me,  what  is  his 
Name  ?  what  shall  I  say  unto  to  them  ?     And 
God  said  unto  Moses.   I  am,  that  lam.     And 
he  said,  thus  shalt  you  say  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,   /  am.  hath    sent    me  unto  you. — 
Hence,  surely,  it  must  be  sufficiently  evident ; 
that  He  who  sent  Moses  to  deliver  their  fore- 
fathers out  of  Egyptian  Bondage  ;  and  He  who 
came    to  deliver  the   whole   World  from  the 
bondage  of  Sin  and  Satan,  Death  and   Hellf 
was  one  and  the  same  Person,  which  is  thus 
clearly    demonstrating  miT   said    unto   Moses 
/  am  ;    this  is  my   name  for  ever,    and  this 
is  my   memorial  unto  all   generations.     Jesus 
saith  unto  the  Jews,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  before  Abraham  was,   /  am.     Therefore, 
Jesus  is   mm.     Thirdly,    let  us    consider  the 
miracles  He  wrought  in   confirmation  of  HLs 
being  the    great  /  am.     The   instantaneously 
converting  of  the  water  into  wine,  at  the  mar- 
riage in  Cana  of  Galilee,  was  the  first  mani- 
festation  of  the   Almighty  Power   residing  in 
this  Divine  Person.     By  whose  Divine  Autho- 
rity also,    the  departed  spirit    of   the  Ruler's 
Daughter  was  called  back  to  re-animate  the 
clay  cold  corps.    The  same  omnific  word,  re* 


13 


stored  to  the  arms  of  the  weeping  widowed 
matron,  the  new  raised  body  of  her  departed 
son,  and  by  the  same  Omnipotence,  the  four 
days  sepeliated  Lazarus  was  restored  unto  life, 
to  comfort  and  support  the   Mourning  Sisters. 
Again,  to  whose  voice  will  the  jarring  elements, 
the  boisterous  winds,   and  raging  waves  be  sub- 
ject ?    but  to  his  alone,  who  shut  up  the  sea 
with  doors,  when  it  brake  forth   as  if  it  had 
issued  out  of  the  womb.     Who  made  the  cloud 
the    garment  thereof,   and    thick    darkness  a 
swadling  band  for  it,  and  brake  up  the  decreed 
place,  and  set  bars  and  doors;  and  said,  hitherto 
shalt   thou  come,  but    no  farther  ;    and  here 
shall   thy  proud  waves  be  stayed.     And  yet  we 
hear,  this  same  Jesus  upon  the  interesting  ap- 
plication made  to  Him  by  His  terrified  Dis- 
ciples, (save  Lord  or  we  perish)  we  hear  (I  say) 
this  same  Jesus  say  to  the  contending  elements, 
peace,  be  still,  and  immediately  there   was  a 
great  calm.     Again,  compare  the  latter  part 
of  that  Majestic  description  given  of  God,  by 
Job,  ix  Chap,  and  three  following  verses,  who 
removeth  the  mountains,  and  they  know  not, 
who   overturneth   them   in   his  anger.     Who 
shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her  place,  and  the 


14 


pillars  thereof  tremble.  Who  commandeth  the 
sun  and  it  riseth  not,  and  sealeth  up  the  stars. 
Who  alone  spreadeth  out  the  heavens,  and 
then  concludes  the  grand  uxoyqaQvi  with  these 
remarkable  words,  and  treadeth  upon  the 
waves  of  the  sea.  Compare  this,  I  say,  with 
what  is  recorded  by  St.  Mark,  vi.  chap.  48,  and 
four  following  verses,  and  about  the  fourth 
watch  of  the  night.  He,  i.  e.  Jesus  cometh 
unto  them  walking  upon  the  sea,  and  would 
have  passed  by  them,  but  when  they  saw  Him 
walking  upon  the  sea,  they  supposed  it  had  been 
a  spirit,  and  cried  out  (for  they  all  saw  Him, 
and  were  troubled)  and  immediately  He  talked 
with  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  be  of  good 
cheer,  it  is  /,  be  not  afraid,  and  He  went  up 
unto  them  into  the  ship,  and  the  winds  ceased, 
and  they  were  sore  amazed  in  themselves,  beyond 
measure,  and  wondered,  for  they  considered  not 
the  recent  miracle  of  the  loaves,  for  their  hearts 
were  hardened,  and  so  (my  Brethren)  are,  and 
must  be  yours  too  ;  if  there  be  any  such  here 
present,  who,  after  this  clear  demonstration  of 
His  Eternal  Power  and  Godhead,  will  deny 
Him  the  honour  due  unto  His  Name,  and 
worship  Him  not  with  Holy  worship  as  your 


]5 


m,T  the  Lord,  your  Creator,  as  well  as  Jesus, 
your  Saviour  and  Redeemer.  Farther,  it  is 
the  peculiar  privilege  of  God  alone  to  for- 
give Sins.  But  do  we  not  hear,  or  rather  read, 
of  this  same  Jesus,  saying  to  the  sick  of  the 
palsy,  and  likewise  to  Mary  Magdelene,  thy  sins 
are  forgiven  thee.  Is  it  not  also  the  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  the  eternal  God,  that 
He  alone  searcheth  the  heart,  and  trieth  the 
reins  ?  Doth  not  David  thus  describe  Him  to 
his  son  Solomon,  when  enjoining  the  know- 
ledge and  service  of  Him  ?  and  thou  Solomon 
my  son,  know  thou,  the  God  of  thy  Father, 
and  serve  Him,  with  a  perfect  heart,  and  with  a 
willing  mind,  for  the  Lord  searcheth  all  hearts, 
and  understandeth  all  the  imaginations  of  the 
thoughts.  And  thus  we  hear  Solomon  in  his 
dedicatory  Prayer  addressing  Him  ;  Then  hear 
Thou  in  Heaven  Thy  dwelling  place,  and  for- 
give, and  do,  and  give  to  every  man  according 
to  his  ways,  whose  heart  Thou  knowest,  for 
Thou,  even  Thou  only,  knowest  the  hearts  of 
all  the  children  of  men.  Now,  is  it  not  re- 
corded by  St.  Mat.  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  his 
Gospel,  that  when  Jesus  said  to  the  sick  of  the 
palsy,  Son  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  sins  be  for- 


j6 


given  thee;   that  certain  of  the  Scribes  said 
within  themselves,  i.  e.  (this  imagination  passed 
only    in    their  hearts)  surely  this   man    bias- 
phemeth.     The  expression  is  rather  stronger,  as 
recorded  by  St.  Mark,  who  saith,  there  were 
certain  of  the  Scribes  sitting  there,  and  reason- 
ing in  their  hearts  ;   why  doth  this  man  thus 
speak  blasphemous  f  who  can  forgive  sins  but 
God  only  ?     We  soon  find  the  Blessed  Jesus, 
adding  to  the  act  of  Omnipotence  in  healing 
the  sick  of  the  palsy,  an  act  of  Omniscience 
also,  in  discovering  the  secret  workings  and 
evil  imaginations  of  the  hearts  of  the  proud, 
stubborn,  and  rebellious  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 
And   knowing  their  thoughts,  said,  wherefore 
think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts  ?     St.  Luke  saith, 
but  when  Jesus  perceived  their  thoughts,  He 
answering  said  unto  them  ;  What  reason  ye 
in  your  hearts  ?     But,  if  there  is   any  more 
particularly    distinguishing    attribute    of   jtbt 
is  it  not  that  of  His  Omnipresence  ?     Do  not 
/  fill  heaven    and    earth,    saith    the    Lord? 
And  again,  the  royal  Psalmist  saith,  whither 
shall  I  go  then  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither 
shall  I  flee  from  thy  Presence?     If  I  ascend 
up  into  Heaven,  Thou  art  there ;  if  I  make 


17 

— e — 

my  bed  in  Hell,  Thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the 
wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  utter- 
most part  of  the  sea  ;  even  there  shall  Thy 
hand  lead  me  ;  and  Thy  right  hand  shall  hold 
me.  And  do  we  not  hear  the  Blessed  Jesus, 
in  that  interesting  conversation,  that  Divine 
O^iXia  with  the  Jewish  Ruler  asserting  His 
Omnipresence,  saying,  if  I  have  told  you  earthly 
things,  and  ye  believe  not,  how  shall  ye  be- 
lieve if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly  things?  And 
no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  Heaven,  but 
He  that  came  down  from  Heaven,  even  the 
Son  of  Man  who  is  in  Heaven.  It  is  well 
worthy  your  Attention  (my  dear  Brethren) 
that  our  Lord  doth  not  speak  here  in  the  past 
tense,  saying,  O  vIoq  rsuvfyuxs  dvjv  the  Son  of 
Man  who  was  ;  but  in  the  present  tense,  O  vUq 
T8«v6pdoT8,  O  wv  who  is  fv  v®  Ovpavca  in  Heaven* 
As  if  He  had  said,  7,  the  Son  of  Man,  who 
came  down  from  Heaven,  and  am  now  con- 
versing with  you  on  Earth.  I,  by  my  Omni- 
presence, am  now  in  Heaven.  Can  words  be 
framed  more  clearly  to  express,  or  point  out 
this  glorious  attribute  in  the  Blessed  Jesus  ;  or 
that  can  more  clearly  demonstrate  Him  to  be, 
the  very,  and  eternal  God,  the  Lord,  nrr  the 


J8 

great  lam  t  From  what  hath  been  said  then,  it 
appears  that  not  only  all  the  attributes  of  rrtfT  are 
ascribed  unto  Jesus.  But  that  He  Himself,  in 
the  days  of  His  humiliation,  in  the  presence 
of  thousands  of  spectators,  frequently  per- 
formed  acts  of  Omnipotence,  established  His 
Omniscience,  and  gave  full  proof  to  Nicode- 
mus  of  His  Omnipresence.  Stronger  testimony 
cannot  be  brought,  clearer  proof  cannot  be 
given,  than  what  may  be  adduced  from  the  ar- 
guments already  advanced,  that  the  Blessed 
Jesus  wTas  in  the  days  of  his  incarnation,  as 
well  as  now  is,  over  all  God  blessed  for  ever. 
God  with  God,  as  well  as  Man  with  Man  ;  or, 
as  our  truly  Evangelical  Church  expresses  it, 
Godot  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very 
God.  Could  the  Arian  heretics  prove  that  blas- 
phemous assertion,  that  He  the  Blessed  Jesus 
was  only  a  mere  man,  we  might  well  agree  with 
them,  that  that  Church,  which  paid  Him  divine 
honours  might  be  deemed  an  Idolatrous  Church. 
But  if  He  who  executes  every  power,  and  pos- 
sesses every  attribute  in  the  eternal  Godhead, 
can  be  less  than  Almighty,  I  should  be  glad 
to  know,  what  idea  we  can  form  of  God,  or 
how  He  can  be  set  forth,  so  as  to  be  appre- 


*9 

— &. — 

liended  by  his  finite  creatures,  otherwise  than 
by  the  exertion  of  those  sovereign  acts,  those 
in  communicable  attributes,  His  Omnipotence, 
His  Omniscience,  and  His  Omnipresence.  But 
all  these  we  have  proved  to  be  possessed  by  the 
Blessed  Jesus.  If  therefore  He,  who  possesses 
these  attributes,  is  known  or  acknowledged  to 
be  that  Being,  which  we  distinguish  by  the  word 
God  ;  though  totally  inadequate  to  convey  the 
idea  of  who,  or  what  this  glorious  Being  is,  in,  to 
and  for  His  Creatures.  And  if  divine  honour 
and  worship  are  due  to  that  Being,  then  what- 
ever acts  of  worship,  Adoration  and  Praise  are 
due  to  the  Father  as  God,  must  of  necessity  be 
due  to  the  Son  also.  But  if  we  will  not  believe 
Him,  for  His  Works  Sake  ;  yet  let  us  attend 
to  the  injunction  of  Him,  of  whom  we  say,  that 
He  is  our  God,  (viz.)  the  Father,  who  hath 
commanded  us  to  honour  the  Son,  even  as  we 
honour  Him.  But  the  Father  is  to  be  to  or* 
shiped.  And  if  we  are  to  honour  the  Son,  even 
as  we  honour  the  Father,  then  the  Son  is  to  be 
worshiped.  God  saith,  that  by  the  mouth  of 
two  or  three  witnesses,  shall  every  truth  be 
established.  Here  are  two  ample  ones,  the  mi- 
racles that  the  Blessed  Jesus  wrought  in  con- 


20 

firmation  of  His  eternal  Pouter  and  Godhead, 
and  the  command  of  his  and  our  heavenly 
Father,  that  we  should  honour  the  Son,  even 
as  we  honour  the  Father,  which  I  think  must  be 
fully  sufficient  to  prove  our  point,  that  Jesus  is 
the  true  God.  Yet  to  give  more  ample  weight 
to  our  assertion,  I  shall  beg  leave  to  close  my 
argument,  and  finish  my  Discourse,  with  the 
testimony  of  a  third  ivitness,  (viz.)  of  that  Dis- 
ciple, whom  the  Blessed  Jesus,  in  the  Days  of 
His  humiliation,  honoured  with  the  most  familiar 
converse,  and  admitted  to  the  nearest  approach 
to  His  sacred  Person.  Indeed,  if  we  peruse 
his  writing  with  attention,  we  shall  be  perhaps 
inclined  to  think,  that  he  not  only  leaned  on, 
but  was  privileged  to  look  into  his  master's 
breast,  and  to  discover  in  some  degree,  the  work- 
ings of  His  Bowels  ;  those  motions  of  love 
and  compassion  that  were  continually  working 
there  for  the  good  of  the  fallen  race  of  Mankind. 
Who  can  read  that  First  Epistle  of  his  with  an 
unprejudiced  mind,  and  not  confess  that  Christ 
is  all  in  all  f  that  Jesus  is  the  u  and  «,  the 
beginning  and  the  End,  the  First  and  the  Last, 
beside  whom,  there  is  no  God,  and  without 
whom  there  is  no  Saviour.     But  lest  the  Ser- 


21 

pent  should  beguile  us,  as  he  did  our  first  Mo- 
ther Eve,  or  that  we  should  be  drawn  aside  by 
Philosophy  (vainly  so  called)  the  beloved  Dis- 
ciple closes  his  testimony  to  Jesus  in  this  Epistle, 
with    this    remarkable    forcible  declaration  to 
those  to  whom   he  then  wrote,   as  also  to  all 
those  who    should   hereafter  believe  in  Jesus 
through   his  Testimony.     We  know,  saith  he, 
that  the  Son  of  God  is  come,  and  hath  given  us 
an  understanding,  that  we  may  know  Him  that 
is  true,  and  we  are  in  Him  that  is  true,  in  His 
Son  Jesus  Christ.     Now  attend  I  pray  you,  to 
what  he  farther  declares  concerning  this  same 
Jesus.     This,  saith  he,  is  the  true  God  and  eter- 
nal Life.     Now  is  any  Arian  sophist  enough 
to  turn  these  words  to  any  other  meaning  than 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  true   God  and  eternal 
Life  f  or  can  he  apply  them  to  any  other  Per- 
son, than  to  Him  who   said  before  Abraham 
was ,  I  am  ?     Surely  then,  this   is  a  sufficient 
testimony  that  our  National  Church  is  a  truly 
Evangelical  Church,  and  who  in  her  worship- 
ping of  Jesus,  worships  the  true  God.     O  let 
me  then  join  my  intreaties  to  the  injunction  of 
this  beloved  Disciple;  saying  with  him,  little 
children  keep  yourselves  from  Idols. — Amen. 


22 


Now  unto  Him  who  hath  loved  us,  and  washed 
its  from  our  sins,  in  His  own  most  precious 
Blood,  who  hath  borne  our  sins  and  carried  our 
Sorroivs  ;  who  hath  made  our  peace  by  the 
blood  of  His  Cross  ;  and  made  us  Kings  and 
Priests  unto  God  and  his  Father,  who  formed  us 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  Earth,  and  breathed 
into  our  nostrils  the  breath  of  lives.  Who 
hath  redeemed  us  out  of  every  nation,  kindred, 
and  people  unto  God,  by  His  own  most  precious 
Blood  shedding.  To  Him,  who  is,  and  was, 
and  is  to  come,  Jesus  the  Almighty,  the  great 
/  am.  To  Him  be  ascribed  all  honour  and 
Glory,  Creation,  Salvation,  Dominion,  and 
Power,  Praise  and  Thanksgiving,  by  the  Church 
militant  on  Earth,  and  the  Church  triumphant 
in  Heaven,  forever  and  for  evermore. — Amen* 


23 

HYMN. 

Awake  my  Soul  and  with  the  Sun, 
Thy  daily  stage  of  duty  run  : 
Shake  off  dull  sloth,  and  early  rise 
To  pay  thy  morning  sacrifice. 

II. 

Awake,  lift  up  thyself  my  heart, 
And  with  the  Angels  bear  apart ; 
Who  all  night  long  are  heard  to  sing 
High  glory  to  t'eternal  King. 

III. 

May  I,  like  you,  in  God,  delight, 
Have  all  day  long,  my  God  in  sight. 
Perform  like  you  my  Maker's  will  ! 
O  may  I,  never  more,  do  ill  ! 

IV. 

Direct,  controul,  suggest,  this  day, 
All  I  design,  or  do,  or  say  ; 
That  all  my  Pow'rs,  with  all  their  might 
In  Thy  sole  glory,  may  unite  ! 

Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,  &c. 


